I completely feel overwhelmed when it comes to phonics instruction. There are just so many different ways to teach it- and I struggle with which is the most valuable for the children? We use Letterland- which the children love- as well as instruction during reading and writing. I become even more overwhelmed when I read more about it and new things to do with it! I love it- but it just stresses me a little :) I loved the chapter on "Working with Words". I love the idea of adding five new words to the wall each day (along with the Monday- Friday activities that go along with it)- I have already added this to my lesson plans for the week! As I was reading- I really liked the idea of adding a picture next to difficult words- but then realized this probably isn't best for my kindergarteners since the goal is to read and spell each word. I did like this though for children who may be having a great deal of difficulty. I use portable word walls for the children during my acceleration time (which is reading and writing in small groups in addition to reading groups). The children love having their own word banks. We use pigs as the cover and inside looks just like what they have in our book- with each letter)- we call it our "Word Bank" instead of Piggy Bank :)

I can't imagine teaching kindergarten and laying the phonics groundwork! I was in kindergarten for block one and the teacher I work with did phonics for almost two hours every day. She was awesome at ... more

My son is in kindergarten and they do Letter Land which I'm sure is very similar to yours. He Loves It!! I am amazed at how fast he has picked up on the "sound tricks". He is already sounding out... more

Carrie- Letter Land is awesome! I just went to a training on Friday and learned so much more about it! It is a great phonics and reading program- I just wish I had more time in the day to do more... more

I agree with you and have this conversation with other teachers all the time! I feel so overwhelmed by all the different ways to teach phonics and figuring out which way is best and trying to get... more

Do you create the portable word walls for your students? Or do you just have an alphabetic outline and add the words as they learn them? Do YOU actually write them on the portable WW for them, or do... more

Elisabeth- I use my portable word walls for writing time with my students- both with whole group and small groups. Each child has their own "Word Wall" that is passed out during writing time. This... more

Dr. Koppenhaver, These word banks actually save a lot of time for me during writing because I don't have every child raising their hand to ask me how to spell something :) As I replied to Elisabeth-... more

Cute ideas, Katie! I love the idea of a portable word wall. I am totally going to use this--several of my kids are removed during "reading clinic" time and sent to the library for some reading and... more

It sounds like you are doing a great job teaching your students. I know that there is so much more phonics instruction in Kindergarten. It seems that you do many different activities to engage your... more